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JOSEPH MOHR PENNED THE CAROL SILENT NIGHT - 1792

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2014

JOSEPH MOHR PENNED THE CAROL SILENT NIGHTJoseph Mohr was born in Salzburg on this day, 11 December 1792. He is

remembered for his beautiful carol, Silent Night. However, during his

childhood, his name was associated with shame. Not only was he his mothers

third illegitimate child, he was godson to the towns hated executioner. This

came about because Mohrs father, a soldier named Franz Jospeh Mohr,

deserted the army and fled when he learned Ann Schoiber was pregnant by him.

Ann had to face the consequences alone.

One of the consequences she faced was a fine. She earned little from her

boarding house and knitting, so it would have taken her a years wages to pay it

off. To spruce up his reputation, the town executioner said he would pay the fine

and stand as godfather to the child. Unfortunately, this only meant more

humiliation for the boy. He was ostracized and no school would accept him, nor would any employer hire

him or teach him a trade.

However, the boy could sing. Johann Nepomuk Hiernle, a Benedictine monk and choirmaster, overheard

Mohr singing as he played games on the steps of a Capuchin monastery. Heirnle obtained Ann Schoibers

permission to train the lad. Mohr blossomed under this care. By twelve he was well on his way to

mastering the organ, guitar, and violin. He held his own among elite students, always placing near the

top of the class.

He continued his training until he was twenty-three and was ordained a priest. Because he was

illegitimate, he needed a special dispensation from the pope to enter the priesthood.

In 1816, he was stationed at the pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria. There he wrote the words to

Silent Night. The next year, church authorities sent him to Oberndorf, where he met Hans Gruber, the

organist of a neighboring church who set the words to music. The carol was first sung at a midnight mass

on Christmas Eve, 1818. Gradually it made its way into the larger world, where others modified a few

notes. Today it is the most popular Christmas carol of all time, translated into over two hundred

languages.

It Happened Today | Christian History Institute https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/12/11/

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Silent Night expresses the wonder of the light Christ brought at his incarnation, which was announced

by angels to shepherds, and inspired wise men to follow a star and find the incarnate king. Early English

translations differ from the familiar words we sing:

Holy night! Peaceful night!

Through the darkness beams a light

Yonder, where they sweet vigils keep

Oer the babe, who, in silent sleep,

Rests in heavenly peace.

Joseph Mohr had a tender heart toward the needy and outcast. When he died at his last postin

Wagrainhe was penniless. For years he had given almost everything he earned to charities, among

which was a school he had started for poor children.

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It Happened Today | Christian History Institute https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/it-happened-today/12/11/

2 of 2 12/6/2014 11:19 PM